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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24790627">not forgotten and never forgiven</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Demigod_with_dream/pseuds/Demigod_with_dream'>Demigod_with_dream</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Anakin Skywalker is Not Okay, CT-7567 | Rex POV, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Implied/Referenced Slavery, Protective CC-2224 | Cody, Protective CT-7547 | Rex, Protective Obi-Wan Kenobi, There are emotions, and mean bad guys, rex and cody find out about anakins past, set pre-ahsoka, though admittedly the comforts largely off screen, towards the start of the conflict</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-06-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 10:20:43</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,137</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24790627</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Demigod_with_dream/pseuds/Demigod_with_dream</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>It’s Cody who finally breaks the silence, asking quietly, “Did you know?”.<br/>And Rex knows what Cody’s asking, knows he’s been through the same thoughts Rex has, has come to the same conclusion he has, and like him is wondering how he could have not known.</p>
<p>or</p>
<p>Rex and Cody find out Anakin was once a slave</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>CT-7567 | Rex &amp; Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi &amp; Anakin Skywalker</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>377</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>not forgotten and never forgiven</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Rex had never been to this particular sector of the Outer Rim before.  Prior to the war, it was the type of place the Jedi would have stayed far away from, with its own laws and rulers who were only just this side of being crime lords.  But desperate times called for desperate measures, and the group were willing to trade intelligence that was highly valued by the republic, so here they were. </p>
<p>They weren’t meant to be there for long. The Jedi council had asked the Generals Skywalker and Kenobi to simply stop by and confirm their allies allegiance hadn’t changed. It wasn’t even a real mission, just a stop off on the way to their next posting; the only reason two Jedi had been assigned to what was effectively an errand.  Dropping out of hyperspace saw Rex and Cody joining their generals in a ship headed to the surface while the rest of their men stayed behind to prepare and relax, since there was no sense in taking an army to a diplomatic meeting.  Rex knew him and Cody themselves were only there as a formality; no one expected trouble.  </p>
<p>Upon landing the four of them made their way to the pre-arranged meeting spot, a clearing just past the woods they had landed outside of, at the edge of the tunnels that led to their contacts hideout.  The contacts themselves were already there, watching them approach.  There were four of them; two representatives and two guardsmen.  All of them Devaronians.  The four exchanged pleasantries before Kenobi and what looked to be the older Devaronian moved to begin their politics, leaving Skywalker and the younger to converse as they wished for the time being.  </p>
<p>One of the benefits to the Clones helmets, was that they allowed you to zone out of supposedly important conversations and daydream without anyone being any the wiser.  Usually, this was how Rex spent his time during these meetings, but this time he found that he couldn’t.  He didn’t know what it was, but he had the distinct feeling that something was off, though it took him a while to pinpoint what he thought it was. The older of the Devaronians, Nahl Dros, Rex thought his name was, kept glancing over at General Skywalker, as if he was trying to figure something out.  Skywalker himself didn’t seem to have noticed yet, too busy conversing with the other Devaronian, but Kenobi too was now glancing between the two of them, a slight look of confusion in his eyes.  Maybe Rex hadn’t known the Jedi for that long, but already in that short stretch of time the two had proven themselves worthy of his respect and loyalty, enough that Rex could feel the beginnings of a wary protectiveness stirring inside of him as the calm jovial mood of the situation began to sour.  Anakin was still talking away, blissfully unaware of the growing tension, though as Rex watched he saw the young Devaronian seemingly realise his partners conversation had halted, glance over at his companion with a questioning look in his eyes.   </p>
<p>Just when it appeared Kenobi was about to step in and confront Dros, a shielded look in his eyes that Rex couldn’t quite place, the Devaronian spoke, interrupting Skywalker mid-sentence.  The words were so far from what Rex was expecting that it took him a moment to process what he’d said.  </p>
<p>“I hear you are quite the pilot, Master Jedi” </p>
<p>No-one seemed to know quite what to do in response to the statement, and there was a beat of silence before Skywalker responded, a look of slight bewilderment on his face at the seemingly random interruption.</p>
<p>“I’d like to think so,” he said, glancing towards Kenobi as though for some hint of what was happening.  </p>
<p>“You know, I am quite the fan of the art of flying myself, and have had the privilege of attending quite a few races, all throughout the galaxy.” As he spoke, the man’s gaze was focused entirely on Skywalker, scanning his face as though searching for something.</p>
<p>“I even had the pleasure, some number of years ago, of attending the Boonta Eve Classic.” Rex assumed this was a race of some kind, though the words meant little to him.  Anakin, however, had tensed slightly at the words, and seeing this Dros pressed on.</p>
<p>“The race that year was quite spectacular, and one the result of which has stayed with me all this time.”  There was something almost predatory in his eyes now, and clearly Rex wasn’t the only one who had noticed, as he felt Cody shift ever so slightly besides him, hand discreetly drifting closer to his blaster.  Kenobi too seemed to have noticed, and took the pause as a chance to break into the conversation, presumably in an attempt to detract some of the attention away from Anakin, who was looking more and more uncomfortable with every word spoken.</p>
<p>“I take it you walked away significantly richer that year then?” Kenobi drawled, his arms crossed and posture tilted in the way Rex had seen him do when trying to draw a rise out of enemies, voice deceptively calm unless you knew him well enough to detect the underlying danger it posed.  </p>
<p>However, it seemed Dros was unbothered by the veiled warning to back off, as he ignored his partners look of warning and responded, eyes never leaving Skywalker, </p>
<p>“Oh no, unfortunately my pilot barely even made it through the first lap.  No, what made that race so memorable was the newcomer who won.  Truly, he was a gifted pilot, especially for a human.  You see,” he said, turning briefly to meet Kenobi’s eyes, “very few humans can fly a podracer successfully. In fact,” and now he was back to Skywalker, gaze locked on his and the beginnings of a sharp grin edging on to his face, “in fact, he’s the only human I’ve ever seen finish a race, let alone win one! And at such a young age as well, why he could have gone on to be something great. But alas,” he sighed dramatically, as though the waste of this potential was a great trouble to him, “it was not meant to be.”</p>
<p>By now Anakin had begun to pale significantly, his breaths growing shallow and quick.  Rex had to wonder what the significance of this story was to him.  Perhaps he had known the pilot, whoever he was?  Whatever it was, it was bothering him, and that was enough for Rex to want it to stop, now.</p>
<p>“Not meant to be?” the Devaronians friend asked, and Dros glanced at him, smiling wickedly as though sharing a joke of some kind, before answering.</p>
<p>“No, I’m afraid it never would have been possible, you see,” he was leaning towards Anakin now, his added height giving him the appearance of towering over him, “the boy was nothing more than a worthless slave.”<br/>
Anakin flinched, his whole body shifting as that final word was uttered, and whatever Dros was looking for he must have found it, because he allowed that wicked grin to fully take over his face, eyes lighting up with glee, and Rex barely had time to see the sudden understanding and anger flash through Kenobi’s face before the Devaronian snarled something in what Rex thought might have been Huttese, and then </p>
<p>Anakin.  Just.  Crumbled.</p>
<p>His whole body seemed to shrink in on itself, as if he was trying to take up as little space as possible, and Rex thought he saw fear in his eyes, before he was hidden from view by Kenobi, lunging forwards with a protective snarl, lightsabre out and pointed at Dros, and the bastard was laughing, even as his guards took the Jedis move as the cue they’d been waiting for to whip out their blasters, and then Rex had no more time to think because he had to act, drawing his blaster in perfect sync with Cody as the two of them moved to stand on either side of their General, Skywalker hidden in the middle of their protective triangle.  </p>
<p>For a moment no one moved, and everything was silent save for Dros’ laughter and Anakin’s panicked breathing.  Then Kenobi spoke, and the spell was broken.</p>
<p>“We’re leaving,” he snarled, “now.” And then the four of them were backing away and heading for their ship, and the Devaronians were turning to head back into their tunnels, Dros’ laughter still echoing off the cavernous walls, and Rex felt sick.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>They didn’t drop their guard until they were safely out of sight of the fortress.  Kenobi came to a stop, spinning to face Anakin, eyes filled with anger and a fierce protectiveness, hands on his proteges shoulders in an attempt to get Anakin to look at him, to drag his eyes up from where they’d been resolutely aimed at the ground, glazed over as if not really seeing.   His arms hadn’t moved form their protective grasp hugged around his waist, and though he’d allowed them to shepherd him out and away, Rex had the sinking feeling that it wasn’t because he’d known what was happening, but more that he was too busy being sucked back into old memories to do anything other allow himself to be led away.  Rex still wasn’t exactly sure he knew what had just happened, except you do, a small part of him whispered, you do know what happened, you just don’t want to think about it, because if you think about it then that makes its real, and if its real - </p>
<p>“Cody, Rex,” Obi-Wans voice was sharp, pulling Rex away from his thoughts.  Anakin flinched slightly at the residual anger in Kenobi’s voice, and Obi-Wans face softened, before he continued more calmly, “I need you to go and get the ship ready, Anakin and I will meet you there”.  Rex noted that his eyes hadn’t left his apprentice once.  </p>
<p>Even still he wanted to argue, something inside him screaming that his General was hurt, and leaving him here was wrong, but before he could he heard Cody agreeing before gently grabbing his arm to pull him away.</p>
<p>“Come on” he hears his brother say quietly, “they need a minute together.”  And there was understanding in his voice, the message that Cody didn’t particularly want to leave his General either, but he knows it’s what they need, and so Rex turns and follows his brother back towards the ship, twisting their way through the trees until the Jedi’s soft voices faded away.</p>
<p>For a while they walk in silence, Rex struggling to sort through the mess of thoughts whirling through his head, trying to come to any conclusion that isn’t the one he knows it is.  The one he desperately wants it not to be, more than he’s ever wanted anything in his life.  </p>
<p>It’s Cody who finally breaks the silence, asking quietly, “Did you know?”.</p>
<p>And Rex knows what Cody’s asking, knows he’s been through the same thoughts Rex has, has come to the same conclusion he has, and like him is wondering how he could have not known.</p>
<p>“No.” he admits, and the two of them return to silence as they arrive at the ship, separating to make preparations to leave, and Rex is once again left to his thoughts.  And as he thinks about it, he finds that with this new information, there are lots of little things that make more sense now.  Like that one time they infiltrated a separatist base only to discover the cargo due to be transported was people, and how Anakin’s disposal of the droids they’d encountered on their way out had perhaps been more violent than was necessary.  And the way he’d defiantly met Kenobi’s eyes afterwards, and how despite Obi-Wan never having had a problem reprimanding Anakin for doing something stupid before, this time he just let it go.  Lots of little moments, that at the time had just been Anakin Skywalker being Anakin Skywalker, but now had explanations to go with them.  And then he’s thinking of all the times something went wrong, when Rex and his men were almost too late, when Kenobi only just had time to warn Skywalker, when someone’s stun bolt only just missed, all the times that was almost it.  And suddenly those times seem that much scarier. </p>
<p>He goes and joins Cody, the two of them looking out the window, where they can just now see their two Jedi making their way towards them, Skywalker nestled protectively under Kenobi’s arm, and Rex feels an understanding pass between the two of them.  </p>
<p>Maybe it’s the Jedi way to forget, to let the past go, but Rex and his brother aren’t Jedi.  And as long as they remember, they will fight to their last breath to make sure it never happens again.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Because there needs to be more fics where people find out about Anakins past and respond acordingly.<br/>also this is my first Star Wars fic so i apologise if things seem not quite right.<br/>comments very much appreciated, even if its just a smiley face, enjoy! :)</p></blockquote></div></div>
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